04. mental link

[exhuxperation]

COMMAND over oneself and others	AMBITION nothing will stand in my way
ORDER chaos will not be tolerated	MANY over the individual

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[polyphonos]

[Her chin doesn't lift, but there is a small change in the air that perhaps gives the impression of her standing straighter anyway - a cool edge in her expression, something knowing in the line of her mouth. Her link to him is solid, a stilled line as if drawn with a pen and ruler. She gives him nothing. It's very quiet.]

We could tell you, if you'd like us to.

[exhuxperation]

[ Her chin doesn't lift but her countenance changes all the same. Hux meets her stare dead on, unwilling to be intimidated by the sharp gaze. He doesn't like what he sees, but rarely has he dealt in anything he enjoys, here. ]

I'm better off knowing than not, all things considered. [ They did just talk about him getting to know the nest, didn't they? ]

[polyphonos]

[She could insist on showing him: opening her hand to him and drawing him in, spreading the line drawn between them so he might feel the memory of that hum from Ilde's link to the nest. So he might understand the emptiness of the feeling, the dead weight of-- well, of death. She could give him all the tools to know if he asked. It would be a simple thing. She could be gentle with him if he wanted her to be.

Instead Cathaway simply says:]

It was Ilde.

[She doesn't bat an eyelash. The line between them is cold - a dead star.]

[exhuxperation]

[ He's not looking for her to be gentle. The command structure of the First Order had rarely been so; he's grown used to clipped tones and never wasting time. Here, he expects no different and had been oddly thrown by how the dynamics were. So while he wants nothing more than to be presented the facts, clear and concise, something lacks.

At first he thought it was merely their aloof relationship that caused the rift. The emptiness. It seems he's not far off, but for a very separate reason. His mind link tells him she should be there but he doesn't feel anything except for ice. Unnerved, he focuses on her words, content with the answer even if the means dig under his skin. ]

Did she learn something from it? [ Her mind had been chaos when he first met her. Hard to say if there had been any change. ]

[polyphonos]

Impossible to say, isn't it?

[Without touching Ilde's mind, without using all the tools in his proverbial kit, was there a way to know definitively?]

It seems we must wait and see what she's gleaned from her time on the planet.

[exhuxperation]

[ A strange sense of irritation settles over him. As though he's in a meeting he'd much rather not be having. Part of it is coming from Cathaway herself– the chill is persistent, like someone's left a window open he can't close. ]

Either way, I'm sure it will be enlightening. [ Whether it's due to more chaos on her part or if she's finally shaped up. ]

Will that be all, Cathaway?

[polyphonos]

[Her eyes narrow on him. For a moment, her mouth thins. She imagines banging her skull against a stone would produce better results.]

Yes, General. We believe that answers all our concerns. [She turns the two of her boot back to the room's exact center - can feel the way the Station shifts and hums and grows around her and lets it wash over and through her.] Should you have any of your own, we are always here to assist you.

[If it sounds like a dismissal, that's because it ought to.]

[exhuxperation]

[ Maybe he's imagining it or maybe her expression is giving her away, but he feels the frustration. It's a double edged sword. One on hand he's uncomfortable by the icy feeling. On the other, he's viciously glad– if she meant to sway him with some pretty words, he's not so easily won. ]

By your leave, then.

[ Hux recognizes a dismissal when he hears one, so he tips his head towards her before he turns sharply and heads out of the command room. ]